The Hands of God 3: Heavenfall
by Xardion
Summary: Years have passed since Silent Line, and things have changed. But now a new conflict arises and only one will survive. At last! After four years, the next saga of this series! Chapter VII. Please R
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or any of the character designed by them. However, there are original characters in this story that I have created.

_**The Hands of God III: Heavenfall**_

* * *

_The world has fallen to ruin once again..._

_A failed attempt by the now-defunct Navis' group to control ancient weaponry has resulted in the near destruction of the entire world. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the corporations, seeking to hold their power, have united into one super-corporation known as 'The Alliance'._

_However, the rule of Alliance has resulted in the oppression of Ravens, elite mercenaries who pilot massive fighting machines known as Armored Cores. Under the Alliance, Ravens are forced to follow their commands, becoming nothing more than foot soldiers that battle at their beck and call._

_However, such tyranny does not go unchecked. In recent months, a group of Ravens have been gathering together from the ashes of the Raven's Ark, all wishing to fight against the Alliance. Some have gone their own way, becoming independent warlords to command their own forces. But one particular group is on the rise, wielding a far greater power and thus, becoming a significant threat to Alliance._

_It is in such an environment is where one Raven, a survivor of the devastation known as Heavenfall, will rise..._

* * *

The florescent lights of the room flickered on, automatically activated for this time. On the bed in the sparse room, the sole occupant was slowly roused from his sleep. Sitting up with his eyes still closed with drowsiness, a young man raked his hand over his face and over his head, yawning all the while.

_Beep, beep..._

At the sound, his eyes opened finally and turned to look in the direction of the sound, although already knowing its source. His laptop computer... With another yawn, he rose up from his bed and moved over to the table where his computer was settled on. He scowled to himself as he looked at the name that showed up on the monitor.

_'Damn it. Haven't even had my morning drink yet...'_

Sulking, he soon surrendered to his fate and opened the message left to him by his operator. As it opened, he moved his hand over and grabbed a bottle of beer, which had been left over from the night before. Without a moment's hesitation, he gulped down the remaining contents. Swallowing, he finally looked at the message on the computer.

_-"Alright, fledgling. Here's your mission."-_

Scowling at the nickname his operator penned on him, the Raven Elijah read on...

* * *

_AN: Short? I know. I just wanted something to put here so that everyone knows that I haven't forgotten about this. But it may take me a while to work on this regularly as I am still missing some elements needed to really start writing this, but for now, this is what I've got. For those who had been waiting for this, sorry for the delay._


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-I-

* * *

_Name - Elijah_

_AC - Havoc_

_History - A young Raven that was a survivor of the 'Heavenfall' calamity. Formerly part of a clan of Ravens known as 'Nightwatch' and a trio known as the 'Hands of God'. Currently under Alliance. Shows considerable skill and talent and may be considered a Dominant, however speculation on this is premature._

_Assigned Operator - Abel Durant_

* * *

_-"Alright, fledgling. Here's your mission..."-_

_- "Your objective is the military base, Camp Fortherd. This military instillation is poorly defended, no match for a Raven. However, you are put under a time limit and your pay will be based on the results of how much you destroy within that limit." -_

_- "And that's about it. It's a basic attack run; simple enough, even for you." -_

The streets of the military base were quiet, with the exception of the stomping of the MTs, as well as the carrying on of the soldiers. Yet each one of them was armed with a rifle or weapon of some sort. Word had reached of a possible attack and all were ready for it. Trucks were parked in designated areas, ready with extra ammunition. There were even reinforcement choppers on standby outside of the base just in case. All in all, whatever form the attack came in, they would be ready for it.

Except...

An explosion soon erupted in the midst of base as one of the MT's blew apart. This caused the alarms of the base to ring out and all the MTs began to move in toward the wreckage. But as one neared the site, it too was destroyed by a hail of gunfire. As the second MT burned, the source of the fire strode into and through the burning wreckage; a single eye beaming through the smoke.

"What the...? It's a Raven!"

It was a middleweight AC, humanoid in form and colored red with grey stripes. Its hands were equipped with machine guns, each a different type, but both producing the same rain of destruction as it took aim of a third MT and shot it into oblivion. Within the machine, Havoc II, Elijah took a brief gaze at his radar. There were four more MTs just to the western part of the base. The boosters of Havoc flared up and the machine slid across the ground. As it did, the soldiers below were shooting at it, but the AC did even slow and continued on, ignoring them altogether.

_'I don't have time to waste.'_

Racing across the ground and turning sharply, Havoc caught sight of its next target a good distance away. But instead of shooting it outright, the left arm of the AC lowered and from the back of the shoulder, the long barrel of a grenade launcher unfurled. Another MT lumbered up beside the first, but Elijah merely shrugged and pressed the trigger. The cannon fired. The concussive shot flew out and impacted with the target in force. Not only that, but the resulting explosion took out the second MT as well as a few of the buildings nearby

_-"Well, that was a bit much, don't you think?"-_

Elijah scowled upon hearing his operator speak. It was a difficult thing to have someone watching over your mission progress. Sometimes, it felt like he was being scrutinized or tested to see if he was any good or something to that effect. It wasn't something he had to deal with before.

At least, not before Heavenfall...

Havoc continued onward, heading to the next MT which was just around the corner. But as soon as he turned, he was besieged by gunfire from the MT. A few stray shots managed to nick its armor as Havoc strafed to the side and out of its line of fire. Not wasting time, Havoc lifted its right arm and fired its machine gun. The MT was hammered immediately and it exploded soon after.

_-"You let your craft get caught by an MT like that? Sloppy."-_

The Raven growled aloud this time. _'Why did I get such a pain-in-the-neck operator?'_ Sure, he did his job well, giving him the appropriate Intel on his targets and even some suggestions on how to go about them, but did he really have to make such comments as though he was better than he was? _'If you think you can do better, you pilot the damn thing!'_ Even if many operators were former Ravens, they should just shut up if they were going to say crap like that.

Controlling his frustration, Elijah proceeded on to the last target, which was still a good distance away. Havoc soon began to slow down and slide along the ground, the grenade cannon being unfurled once again. Still sliding, Elijah worked quickly to aim as the MT took notice of him and began moving. But it made little difference as the lock was finished and Elijah fired, just as the cannon finished unfolding and the AC knelt to a stop. A bolt of fire later and the MT was no more.

Havoc rose up as the cannon returned to its former position on its back and the machine looked around. All the main targets had been eliminated, within a span of two minutes. _'What did you expect, with a mission like this?'_ It was a low rank mission. Anyone with an AC and a gun could have completed this mission. Could it even be called a mission? All he had to do was destroy everything in sight. It was just rampant destruction. It felt a bit demeaning, but he had little say on what missions he could accept.

_'_He_ would have enjoyed this mission though...'_

_-"Looks like you have company."-_

Havoc turned about and gazed upward in the air to see a squadron of helicopters fly in approach. Spreading out in formation the chopper fired down on the lone AC. Within Havoc, Elijah found himself shaking his head. _'Are these guys serious?'_ The helicopters stood less of a chance against him than the MTs that he had just destroyed. Even though they had the air advantage, that meant little against a Raven.

At least this would increase his pay...

It didn't take long for the machine guns of Havoc to lift and fire on the approaching aircraft. The choppers hit by the gunfire all fell to the ground as flaming debris. Impressive was that Elijah didn't seem to be wasting any shots. His eyes simply caught on to target after target and took them down in swift procession.

Another minute later, all the choppers were decimated and Havoc stepped over what was left. The base was now completely defenseless and all the soldiers had fled for fear the Raven would do further damage and wipe them out completely. But Elijah had done plenty of damage, even walked over a couple of supply trucks on his way to his primary targets. But now, it was over

_-"Okay fledgling, time's up. Not too bad a job either."-_

But the Raven did nothing, but stare out at the destruction he created...

* * *

_"Ha! How was that? Not too bad, huh?"_

_"You're off by two seconds."_

_"What?"_

_"You hesitated before and when I told you that the MTs had my data, you panicked and backed away. Therefore, you lost two seconds."_

_"You can't be serious."_

_"I'm always serious."_

* * *

With a low moan, Elijah staggered down the dormitory hall and toward his room. After returning from his mission and receiving his pay, Elijah had gone to the local bar for a drink. And given his current condition, it may have been one too many. He really didn't care at the moment though. The pay he received wasn't as high as he liked. On the contrary, it was quite pathetic.

What made it worse that he didn't even have to pay much for repairs. Ammunition perhaps, but not a lot in that category. Even with that, he only was able to get a low pay of credits. He wasn't really surprised given the ease of the mission, but it was still depressing. Depressing enough for him to take one drink more than usual.

_Or was it five? He'd lost count._

In any case, he was officially wasted and stumbling about the hallway. Luckily, there was no one around, so he didn't have to worry about looking like an idiot in front of someone. Not that he really cared if he did. He didn't care about much nowadays. He didn't have much nowadays. Just his AC and his skill. No family, no goals, no friends...

Not anymore anyway...

Grumbling, Elijah made his way back to his feet. He didn't survive both Silent Line and Heavenfall just to go out to a couple of drinks. Entering his room and closing the door behind him, Elijah just managed to make it to his desk seat and plop down onto it. His eyes drooped close, but it took him a bit longer to fall asleep. Even though intoxicated, Elijah didn't much like falling asleep. Or rather, he didn't like the dreams that came about when he did. They were always about the same thing.

When the world changed...

And the heavens fell...

* * *

_Rain..._

_That's how it always began. The grey clouds of the black sky letting loose a heavy downpour. But it didn't mean much to the Ravens, who sat within their Armored Cores. The machines were gazing skyward as the rain hammered in on them._

_But soon a different kind of rain fell..._

_It started with one. A small red device of some sort, barely noticeable in the night sky, descending toward the machines. It crashed and exploded between the legs of one of the ACs. Like the first drops of rain, it wasn't anything much, barely noticeable. But then they multiplied by the dozens, swarming down from the sky and down upon everything below_

_Especially the ACs._

_-"My radar is full! They're everywhere."-_

_The war machines fired back, fighting to ward off the descending devices. But the numbers grew, ever increasing and never stopping, bring down sheer destruction on the surface. One by one, the Armored Cores were overwhelmed, peppered by the ongoing onslaught of machinery and destruction._

_-"Keep shooting! We'll... Aghhhh!"-_

_And one by one, they all fell. The screams and cries of the Ravens within echoed throughout, only to be drowned out by further explosions as the suicide devices fell from the skies like blood rain. Buildings, vehicles, constructions, people...none where spared from the destruction._

_-"Fall back! We have to fall...Guahhh!"-_

_In time, the destruction ceased and the explosions stopped. The rain still fell, but now on a different terrain. In the wake of the crimson devices was a devastated terrain. Buildings either toppled over or left in ruin. The streets were completely wrecked; vehicles were flipped over. And in the center of it all were the Armored Cores, heavily damaged and covered with scorch marks. Parts of some were separated while others destroyed completely. And though rain ran down the machines, water wasn't the only thing to drip from them to the street._

_Blood..._

* * *

_Beep, beep..._

The eyes of the young Raven opened as his computer beeped monotonously. Normally, he would have been annoyed at the sound of it, especially considering that he had just come from a mission the previous day. But this time, he simply reached up to see the message, oddly glad that he wasn't awakened from his bed so that he had to actually get up to read it.

_- "Figured you wouldn't mind another mission so soon considering how weak a pay the last one was. Don't worry. It a simple mission, but at least this time, the pay is decent. Vertex wants you to eliminate intruders that have invaded the Old Nire Industrial Area of Circ-City. Its a small number of MTs, but they want someone to deal with them firmly; that being you." -_

Elijah found himself nodding, even though his hangover caused him to regret it soon after. A mission with low pay usually left something of a bad taste in his mouth and here was the job to make up for it. And Abel said that the pay was decent. His operator may be annoying, but was honest enough when it came to payment. However, seeing that there was more to the message, Elijah read on.

_- "A piece of advice though. Since this mission shouldn't pose such a problem, I suggest using some energy weaponry in order to save up on money. Your laser cannon and energy blade would be good in this. But you'll have to move fast. Vertex doesn't want any of them to escape, so keep an eye on your fuel. But what am I saying? You already know this." -_

The young Raven blinked at this. It wasn't unheard of for an operator to give a piece of advice to the Raven they're assigned to. But up until now, Abel hadn't done so, at least not to this extent. At least it confirmed that Abel must have been a Raven, or at the very least, well knowledgeable about Armored Cores. _And his apparently..._ And since it was a sound suggestion, Elijah decided to go with it.

Just as soon as his head stopped pounding...


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

0

-II-

0

The smoke had long burned out at Camp Fortherd by the time they had arrived. A pair of AC's accompanied by a team of combat MTs flew toward the now-wrecked military base. In the lead was a blue, two-legged AC, armed with a heat linear rifle and a Moonlight blade. Just behind it, the second AC stepped out and stood beside it, colored in white and yellow, with four legs and laser cannon arms

"Look at this. Quite a mess, eh Evangel?"

The Raven in the blue machine replied. "Yeah. But still, the damage he caused, it was focused solely on the enemy forces." The head slowly turned to take in the damage assessment. "No signs of any ammunition waste. This was brilliantly executed."

"We know that Raven responsible." the pilot of the second AC, Triturate replied. "Shall we deal with him?"

"Patience." Evangel replied. "It's too soon to consider him our enemy."

* * *

_'It's been a bit since I was underground.'_

Moving forward and out of the elevator, Havoc stepped out into the industrial area of the subterranean city and looked about. Circ-City was one of the older cities, developed and created by Navis Corporation before their fall at the time of the attack of the unmanned suicide weapons. Being one of the older cities and lacking the holographic technology to obscure the ceiling, the buildings could be seen connecting with the top. Not that it mattered to Elijah. At least this way, he didn't have to look up and think of how false it looked. There was no substituting a real sky.

Even if death fell from it...

Moving the control, Elijah motioned Havoc forward. The armaments of the AC had been changed, outfitted with a laser rifle and energy blade. They weren't weapons he particularly specialized with, but he could use them well enough on a mission. He was still in wonder as to why he took his operator's suggestion, but in the end, figured that it wouldn't hurt to take it.

_-"If you're done taking in the scenery, shouldn't you get a move on?"-_

An annoyed growl escaped the Raven's throat as Havoc surged forward, sliding down the ramp and into the street. Everything was quiet as the machine moved on; its heavy steps the only sound that echoed out on the scene. It wasn't something Elijah was comfortable with. For that matter, it was probably safe to say no Raven liked it when things were too quiet.

That was usually how the trouble began...

* * *

_"Scouting?"_

_"It's the best thing to do. If we are to find out if he escaped or not, we have to investigate, not attack."_

_*snort*_

_"Yeah I know. It's boring as hell. Unfortunately, its the only way. If we're lucky, we won't be spotted."_

_The two machines finally reached the outer perimeter of the facility. Using the head radar system, they scan the area as far as they could. From what it showed, the damage that had been caused by their attack was nearly repaired and there were now active patrols. After a few minutes of scanning, they found nothing._

_"This may take awhile. Let's split up and circle around. But remember; do no go any closer than..."_

_**FSSSKKKKKK!**_

_"So much for that idea."_

* * *

_'There!'_

The radar of the AC soon picked up two signals coming from the right. Boosting forward, Havoc slid down the street and turned according, rushing toward the two targets. Both were MT08-OSTRICH, called such because of their appearance, a unit with two long reverse-jointed legs and gun turrets on the sides. Clearly, they were no match for an AC, but the fact that their backs were turned caused him to let out a short bark of laughter.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

The right arm that held laser rifle was already raised and a white line of light fired before either machine could turn around fully. To its credit, though, the MT withstood the shot and continued to turn, albeit, not without missing one of its gun turrets. _'No matter.'_ A second shot from the laser floored the MT, knocking it to the ground in a white burst.

At that point, the second MT had turned fully and began shooting, sending out a spray of gunfire. But the Armored Core had long went into motion before the first shots were let out and had maneuvered to the side, with the shots missing their target altogether. The same couldn't be said of the Raven, who had switched and held the target lock on the MT while he moved.

_Zwwwzzz! Zwwwzzz!_

Not giving it a chance, Elijah fired two consecutive shots at the MT, knocking it down and destroying it in the same fashion as the first one. Quickly checking his radar, Elijah scanned for additional forces. The last thing he wanted was to be in the middle of an ambush or worse yet, _him_ being attacked from the back. But there were no other enemy forces to speak of.

_'No way. It can't be this easy.'_

_-"Enemy reinforcements incoming."-_ his operator said suddenly. _-"Better go say hi."-_

Elijah felt himself smile, oddly in relief at hearing about more enemies. Turning around, Havoc boosted back down the street in search for its new prey. It didn't take long for him to find them. Two more blips appeared on his radar, in the direction he had entered in from. Turning left and looking upward, he caught sight of his new set of targets.

_'Well, at least they're different.'_

Stomping toward him were a pair of CR-MT85Ms. Unlike the previous two, these MT were shaped like tanks, rolling about on four wheels. Looking at the armaments, Elijah guessed that they were also stronger than the previous two as well as better armed.

And their backs weren't turned to him either...

Havoc quickly strafed to the side as the gunfire was unleashed on him. Luckily, he was still a good distance away, so their shots weren't effective. The same, however, couldn't be said about _his_ shots. The laser beams shot forward, twice in concession. The MT staggered back from the shots, but remained functional and continued shooting. However, instead of the usual bullet shots, the MT bent forward (or at least, it appeared like it was bending forward) and fired from its back cannon.

_'Grenade shots!'_

Muttering a curse under his breath, Elijah quickly moved Havoc out of the line of fire. Fortunately, he was still a good distance away; otherwise, those blasts would have done some serious damage. But as Havoc dodged, the second MT followed suit, firing shots of its own. Elijah reacted instantly, pushing the controls forward and causing Havoc to jump _forward_ and over the blasts. While airborne, Havoc jutted his rifle forward and took aim of the MT that he had shot earlier. The beams struck true on, finishing off the MT just as Havoc landed back on the ground.

With one more left, Havoc moved forward as soon as it had landed. The MT continued the fire at it, but not with the grenade shots of earlier. Not that it mattered since the Armored Core was dodging the gunfire while rushing toward it. Havoc released two energy shots at the MT as it raced, causing the machine to stagger back, but not taking it out completely. But that mattered little as the Armored Core came in close range and reared its left arm back, igniting a red laser blade.

"You're finished!"

The blade ripped through the MT in a flash, causing it to fall over and explode before it hit the ground. Elijah turned to look back at the wreckage briefly, blinking in wonder as to what had just happened. He hadn't even thought about his actions; he just _did_ them. At first, it was normal. The grenade attacks were unexpected, but he had managed to dodge the first set.

It was with the second set that things switched tracks. He had moved forward and over the blast, something that wasn't easily done, and certainly not when the attacks were unexpected. And after that, he only knew the target and rushed forward to finish it, moving as if he was Havoc, _literally_. And the truly strange part about that was...

That this wasn't the first time that had happened...

Pushing his thought aside, Elijah checked his radar once again, looking to see if there were any more targets. But there were none whatsoever. He began to feel on edge, thinking that it wasn't this easy. Abel had said it was a simple mission, but he refused to think it was this simple. As if on cue, his operator's voice came up over the comm.

_-"Nice job. And before you ask, yes, it was that easy. But this is the mission Vertex assigned and you've completed it. Consider this a lucky break."-_

Elijah mentally shook his head. To think that Vertex would give out such easy missions. First it was the base mission and now this? Just who were these guys? Actually, there was no need to ask that, since he already knew the answer to that.

Vertex was the rival organization to the Alliance, or more specifically, the A.T.U. (Alliance Tactical Unit). Although it was recently formed and its associates small in number, they are comprised of some of the top Ravens that had come from the now-destroyed Raven's Ark. Their leader, a Raven known as Jack-O, was ranked 3rd in the Raven's Ark before its destruction at Heavenfall. Aside from a few other facts here and there, Elijah didn't know too much about them, neither did he care. Although he had no love for the Alliance, he wasn't keen into fighting with would-be revolutionaries. Survival at this point, was the only thing he had to deal with.

After all, he was the only one of his clan to do so...

Before his mood could grow darker, his operator spoke again. _-"Your mission is complete. Better head back, fledgling."-_

This time, Elijah didn't bother to mutter his curse...

* * *

_Five minutes later..._

On the other end of the Old Nire Industrial Area, an elevator door opened and an AC swiftly flew out onto the street. It was light-middleweight Armored Core, colored in purple and grey and armed with a machine gun in its right hand, a laser blade on its left arm, and a set of missile launchers on its back. As the machine slid forward, its Raven looked about in search, but found nothing on radar.

"It's so quiet..." a female voice whispered to herself."Am I too late?"

The machine slid to a stop and its head turned, where the Raven was given the answer. Just a few feet away where the wrecked remains of the MT force that were there. The MT force that this particular Raven was assigned to protect. But that was no longer possible as they were no nothing but rubble. Lowering the weapons of her AC, Fascinator, the Raven known as Zinaida seethed.

"Who could have done this?"


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-III-

* * *

Standing in the observation deck, Elijah looked out over at his AC, currently undergoing the final part of repair from its last mission. In truth, there wasn't much to repair at all. Havoc had only suffered from a few hits of bullet fire as well as minor scorch marks from grenade blasts. But he didn't have much of a choice when it concerns repairs, no matter how small they were. One of the many 'perks' of being under Alliance employ was that ACs were always maintained.

The downside to this is that it came out of the Raven's pay...

If it was up to him, he would fix those repairs himself and save himself a fair deal of credits. But again, it wasn't up to him. He rarely spent time with his AC unless it was just before heading out on to a mission. It wasn't that he was worried about it. As mentioned before, Alliance takes good care of the ACs, probably better than they care for the Ravens themselves. But...it just wasn't the same.

Not like before...

* * *

_"How many times do I have to say not to do that?"_

_"Hey, if you weren't such a stiff, I wouldn't have to do that."_

_"So I'm a stiff now?"_

_"No. You're always a stiff."_

_"Perhaps."_

_"Come on. Don't you do anything else besides work? Don't you go to parties or anything remotely fun?"_

_"No."_

_"Fine then. I'll..."_

_"Looks like I got a mission to go to. So I'll see you later."_

_"Assuming that you live through it."_

_"Yeah, yeah. Must you be so serious?"_

_"Someone has to be. Be careful out there."_

_"Sure. No problem."_

* * *

Blinking, the young Raven shook away the thoughts of the past. They seemed to be coming up a lot more lately and frankly, it was becoming a bit frustrating. He just wanted to concentrate on the next mission and getting by to the next day. Looking back on the past hindered that, at least that's what he believed anyway.

Glancing up, he watched as the finishing touches were made to his AC, patching up the last bit of damage and its ammo being replenished (at least they would have been if ammo was solid instead of being energy-based). Turning away, he trudged on back to his quarters. In truth, he had only stopped off to check his AC out of boredom. He hadn't received any new missions for a bit and he just felt the need to get out there.

Perhaps an AC battle...

Couldn't do that either. With the new regulations and rank system under the Alliance created after Heavenfall, only Ravens of a certain rank could enter the arena, regardless of past experience and combat ability. And that was only allowed after a Raven completes a certain amount of missions, or manages to get through one that involved combat with another Raven. And so far, that hasn't happened yet. So he had to wait and gather his tally of mission or hopefully, luck out and face a Raven on one.

_Crappy rules..._

But there was little Elijah could do. As long as he worked for them, he was bond to their rules. His only other option would be to leave Alliance altogether. But then what? A Raven that left the Alliance had little or no resources. And given the wrecked condition of the world, neither he nor his AC would last long. And as such, that would leave him with two other options.

Become an independent warlord or join Vertex.

Becoming an independent warlord would allow him the most freedom, but it also had the least resources. Furthermore, he would have to rely on others for those resources, basically, his 'subjects', and that wasn't something he wanted. It was enough that he had to deal with his own issues; he didn't need to be leading other people.

Vertex would be a more likely option since it appeared to have resources. It would have to if they could issue missions and pay of their own. But joining Vertex would probably make him an enemy of the Alliance. Again, that was something he didn't need. As annoyed as he was with it, he had no desire to fight against it either.

So basically, he was stuck...

Shrugging mentally, Elijah soon reached his dormitory room, where he immediately slumped down at his desk. Boredom got to him rather quickly and it had been three days since his last mission, which was incredibly easy. Looking up at his mission laptop, he found a message there from his operator. His boredom dispelled briefly, he clicked on the message. _'Please don't let it be another boring mission.'_

_-"Mission from Alliance. They need a Raven for reconnaissance at the Diorgan Distribution Center. It was once their facility, but Vertex has taken it over. They plan on recapturing it, but not without checking things out first; ergo that's where you come in. Although your primary goal is just to look around, you are free to destroy any defenses that may be there."-_

_'Reconnaissance? Oh god, it __**is**__ another boring mission...'_

_-"Don't let the mission description fool you though. Vertex is involved in this, so there may be more to this than there seems. In any case, watch your back out there, Raven."-_

This caused Elijah to blink. Rarely did Abel ever refer to him as Raven; usually it was the teasing nickname of fledgling. That meant that whatever this mission was, his operator was taking it quite seriously. But it was just reconnaissance right? Maybe he was being paranoid, but his instincts were on high alert now and if it was one thing he could count on, it was his instincts.

_'Maybe this won't be so boring after all.'_

* * *

Descending down the elevator and into the mission area, Havoc awaited the stop to the ground floor, equipped with its previous armaments. Inside, Elijah began to feel a little twitchy. The last words of his operator's message left him feeling on edge, more so than normal. That it itself was a little weird. It wasn't like him to get worried simply on the word of an operator that frequently annoys him. But then again, the said operator knew his stuff when it came to mission and preparations.

_'I wonder...'_

Shaking his head, Elijah refocused on the mission, not allowing his thoughts to backpedal to the past again. The elevator soon came to a stop and the doors opened. Motioning the controls forward, Elijah guided his AC out and into the open area. Before him was a medium-large room with a corridor directly ahead. No motion was detected, either on radar or by plain eyesight. In short, everything was quiet.

Naturally...

_-"The defenses here are sparse, so you can start off without any problems."-_

This caused Elijah to frown. Wasn't this the same guy that said that he had a problem with this? Well, maybe not in so many words, but he made it seem there was more to this mission. Now all of a sudden he does a complete one-eighty? He really had to stop putting so much stock in what his operator says. Gunning the controls, the Raven fired up Havoc's boosters and the AC raced forward into the corridor. Midway in, the radar caught sight of the first target, a _CR-MT83RS_; an MT designed for sniping.

And in a narrow corridor such as this, it would have a _very_ hard time missing...

The first was fired before he could even get a clear look at the MT and managed to dodge the shot only because he reacted the moment he heard the shot ring out. And even then, Havoc wound up slamming itself against the wall just to avoid it.

_'Go, go go!'_

Knowing that snipers take time to reload before the next shot, Elijah pressed the boosters of Havoc to full force, causing the machine to storm down the corridor and toward the MT. As he closed it, the Raven got a betting sight of the target; a bipedal machine that seemed to be bending forward with a wide disk on its back and a large sniper rifle in its hands that it was working to reload. But as it did, the MT finally clicked on Havoc FCS.

"Gotcha!"

Lifting up the machine gun in its right hand, Havoc fired upon the MT relentlessly, taking out the sniper gun first before the bullets tore through the rest of the machine, causing it to explode. Sliding to a stop, Havoc then approached the gate doors. Due to the radar, Havoc had already detected two more objects behind the gate, but Elijah boldly moved his machine forward and opened the gate. On the other end was another room area like the one he had just come from, with another narrow corridor ahead.

Only difference was that there were occupants...

Coming out from the side were two MTs, both _CR-MT77M_s. Like the last MT, these were bipedal too, but these stood upright instead of hunched over. And also, they had more that one weapon. A set of missile launcher turrets were settled on top of them, and their arms, Elijah recognized, were arm laser turrets.

**_Fzzzh!_**

The lead MT didn't waste time firing upon the AC almost as soon as it had entered the chamber and Elijah didn't waste time in piloting his craft out of the doorway. But that opened him up to the second MT that was just behind the first and allowing it a free shot at him. Pulling the controls back and to the side, Elijah caused Havoc to suddenly snap into a strafe, allowing him to just barely dodge the energy fire.

"I think you deserve extra."

Leveling up both machine guns, Havoc let loose a swarm of fire that decimated the MT within a matter of moments. The lead MT moved away just before its partner was destroyed and shot out a salvo of missiles at Havoc. The AC moved out of the way of the projectiles, all the while never stopping from its shooting, but merely turning it upon the MT, tearing it apart the same as the last one and quickly turning it into rubble.

"Well, that was easy."

Lowering the weapons, Havoc continued on, striding into the next corridor. So far, this 'reconnaissance' mission was exactly as he thought it would be; a real bore. Sure, with the attacking MT's, it wasn't a complete loss, but they were eliminated almost too easily. Not that he expected much else from them, but he wouldn't mind some sort of challenge. His radar blipped again and a moment late, a shot rang out from down the corridor. Havoc shot off to the side to dodge, but it was too slow and the rifle shot struck its shoulder.

_'Well, I did ask for it.'_

With the first shot already taken, Havoc rushed forward to take down the sniper MT. But this corridor was long than the first and the AC only managed to get through partway before the rifle was finished loading and the MT was taking another shot. Regardless, Havoc continued to rush forward, with the Raven narrowing his eyes at the opposition in front of him. As Havoc zoomed closer, the sniper shot would be more likely to hit, unless Elijah veered his AC off just _before_ the shot was fired.

_Anticipation... Instinct..._

A snap went off in his head and immediately, Elijah quickly pulled Havoc to the side a split second before the sniper MT took its shot. The bullet rang close to Havoc, but missed the AC entirely. The sniper began reloading, but Havoc was already too close now.

**TKTKTKTKTKTKTKTK!**

The bullets flew out from both guns, wiping out the MT in a matter of moments. Havoc stopped over the now decimated MT, the guns of the MT still smoking from the barrels. Elijah took a short glance at the sniper shot that had hit him and saw that the shoulder armor of the AC was damaged, but not so much. Sniper shots are well known not just for distance, but for their penetrating strength as well. Even a heavily armored machine could be brought down by a good sniper at the right distance and target.

_'I guess it could have been worse.'_

Still, despite that, the Raven didn't see any real threat in this mission. The sniper MT's were that strong and the other two had fallen easily. But he had been told that defenses were sparse and his mission was mainly reconnaissance. Checking his radar map, he saw that he had completed the length of the facility. All that was left was to check the outside and his mission would be complete. Opening the gate, Elijah blinked at the light of the sun, only to have to blink again at what he saw.

_-"What took you so long?"-_

Standing out in the middle of a large courtyard outside of the facility was a single dark form. It wasn't close enough for details, but Elijah knew for a fact that he was looking at another Armored Core. The machine immediately began moving and the Raven within continued speaking.

_-"My orders are to kill you!"-_


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-IV-

* * *

Name - _Bolt_

AC - _Thunderstrike_

Profile - _A skilled pilot who is extremely loyal to Vertex and looks upon Jack-O quite highly. Bolt possesses a high ranking among the Vertex pilots due to his inherit practice of sound combat tactics and strategies. Despite these abilities, Bolt is not all that intelligent and therefore, not very highly regarded by Jack-O_

* * *

_-"What took you so long? My orders are to kill you!"-_

In no time after that proclamation did the purple AC leap up into the air, firing a laser beam of the same color. Havoc strafed to the side to avoid the shot, all the while taking in his opponent. Already noted for its purple color scheme, -Thunderstrike- was a mid-heavyweight AC with reverse-joint legs. Laser rifles were armed on both arms, with the right being a standard laser rifle while the left was a two-pronged weapon attached right on the arm, capable of firing two beams simultaneously. While these weapons were dangerous on their own, Elijah had little problem dodging their attacks. What was a problem was the back weapon that began unhinged and locked on, the turret sparking with energy.

_'Oh, crap! That's a...!'_

**FFFFFFFOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!**

Elijah had just managed to jet his AC behind a hanger building as a pure white wave of energy soared out at him and annihilated the ground his machine had just been on. And even though it was dodged, the shockwave alone was almost enough to throw Havoc off its feet. Gritting his teeth, Elijah pulled hard to stabilize his machine, causing its back to hit up against the wall. Although it rattled Elijah, at the very least, his machine was stable now. But that didn't help the situation and Elijah knew it.

_'He just had to be equipped with a LX cannon.'_

The said weapon was an energy cannon that required a great deal of energy to maintain. As a result, it took up both emplacements on the back, making it the only weapon that could be placed there. While this limited options in terms of weaponry, it was made up for by the sheer outrageous firepower of the cannon.

Firepower that Elijah now had to deal with...

_-"Cowering behind buildings?"-_ Bolt taunted -_"I thought you were better than this!"-_

Elijah frowned, but there was a spike of curiosity there too. He spoke as though he was familiar with him, even though they had never met before now. _'Reputation perhaps?'_ That was possible, but what reputation? His time in the alliance was...uneventful to say the least. His missions were quite low-key too, nothing to build a reputation over, aside from the success rate. So what could Bolt be talking-?

Then it hit him...

_Nightwatch... The Hands of God..._

He had completely forgotten the name his former clan had built up for itself. Being the sole group of Ravens to infiltrate the barrier known as Silent Line and with their success, access to technology that had advanced everything, including Armored Cores. In fact, the cannon equipped on Thunderstrike was based on tech that was found there.

And as if the name of the clan wasn't enough, being aligned with the Hands of God team, a pair that had a near legendary status even when he was starting out as a Raven, was more than enough to gain more than a few unhealthy glances in his direction. It was just that with Heavenfall, he felt that his slate had been wiped clean, that there was nothing left to look back on. But it went to show that even if he could fully forget his past, others would not. Grimacing, Elijah forced the thoughts of the past down, bringing them to the present and with it, a silver lining.

This was definitely different from his last missions.

Hands tightening on the controls, Elijah launched his AC forward just as Bolt flew high enough to see over the hanger building. The purple machine used its laser rifle, letting off a few shots at the retreating Raven. -Havoc- managed to escape the shots and gain enough distance to turn about and face his opponent. Lifting up both machine guns, -Havoc- let loose a volley of gunfire on the enemy AC. -Thunderstrike- managed to evade by shutting off its boosters, letting the gunfire fly on overhead as it dropped out of the sky and behind the building.

Still locked, -Havoc- slid around the other end of the building, hoping to get a clean shot in before Bolt did. The AC soon cleared the building, but not in time to catch -Thunderstrike- open and -Havoc- was forced to back away as energy beams fired down at him. Not waiting for his FCS to lock on fully, Havoc returned fire, only to have Bolt fall away again and advance on him.

Still flying backward, Elijah activated his core's EO system. A single, almost sphereical piece ejected from the back of the core and rapidly fired energy beams at the enemy. Bolt must have been caught off-guard by this, because a few of the beams struck the left arm of -Thunderbolt-, partially damaging the weapon equipped to it.

_-"You're not half bad."-_

Despite the compliment, the purple AC returned with aggressive fire, hopping high up into the air and unleashing beam after beam upon -Havoc-. Due to their accuracy, Elijah was barely able to dodge the beams that came his way and two of them struck true, one on the right shoulder and another on the lower right of the core. -Havoc's- back soon slammed against the facility gate, with the Raven within working to think up a plan.

_'Come on, think. I've been tougher scrapes than this.'_

He thought about his opponent's AC. Being equipped with only energy weapons would put a significant dent in fuel supply, and as such, would limit booster activity. And judging from what he had seen in the fight so far, his opponent didn't seem to pursue him much. _'Limited range.'_ Distance fighting would be the way to go, it seemed. But Havoc wasn't equipped with any such weapons save for the grenade launcher on it back.

_'Guess it'll have to do.'_

Switching to the aforementioned weapon, Havoc settled down to the ground as it unfurled. Elijah grimaced. He didn't very much like being stuck in a vulnerable position like this, but he had little choice. His weapon set, Elijah worked on eyeing his target. -Thunderstrike- was flying forward, just coming into firing range. But the laser cannon on its back was already unfurled and charged with energy.

Elijah quickly worked to lock on to the core, but then paused. Even if his shot connected, it wouldn't save him from the laser blast that would be sure to destroy him. But it was far too late now and -Thunderstrike- had come into range. It seemed to happen in slow motion; the flash of light that signaled the firing of the energy cannon. And in that moment, Elijah knew what to do.

Shifting his aim, -Havoc- fired a grenade shell, but not at -Thunderstrike-; rather into the energy beam itself. The shell disappeared into the light of the beam and then exploded. The resulting explosion managed to disrupt the energy beam and create a shockwave that knocked -Thunderstrike- down out of the air and forcing to land hard on the ground. Disengaging the grenade launcher, Havoc shot forward, firing relentlessly on the grounded AC with both machine guns.

_-"I'm not done yet!"-_ Bolt shouted.

The laser cannon folding away, -Thunderstrike- lifted its own laser rifle and fired back defensively. Havoc wove around the ernegy fire, but continued unleashing its own fire, working hard to keep a lock on -Thunderstrike- as it was backing away in order to recover. But thanks to the reverse-joint legs, -Thunderstrike was able to hop away in a single bound.

Elijah moved to follow, but a well-placed shot from -Thunderstrike's- twin laser rifle stabbed into -Havoc's- leg, halting its advance and giving the purple machine some breathing room. As it flew back, Elijah watched as -Thunderstrike- began to unfold its laser cannon once again. He jerked the controls to move back, but the Armored Core didn't respond. Apparently, the legs of -Havoc- was still affected by -Thunderstrike's- attack and it was slow on movement.

"Come on, Havoc! Move!"

The light of the energy cannon alerted him to the shot, but Havoc's systems came on line and Elijah pulled back hard in time to dodge the full brunt of the blast. The resulting ground shockwave knocked Havoc back further, but the machine didn't fall. Using the momentum of the shockwave, Havoc soared back and to the side, rapidly speeding across the wall of the mountain as Thunderstrike began to descend to the ground. So quickly in fact that Havoc had managed to take Thunderstrike's back.

The worse position for an AC to be in.

Both machine guns raised, Havoc unleashed its fire once again. The bullets tore into Thuderstrike's back, bringing damage to the AC's bosters. Thunderstrike hobbled away and took to the air, wheeling about in order to get a shot in, only to face a kneeling Havoc and an unfurled grenade launcher.

"Gotcha."

The solid shell soared straight and true, knocking the AC out of the air with a devastating blast. Thunderstrike crashed on the ground; the damage clear from the missing arm and scorched core. Sparks flew all about the machine, yet it still had enough motor ability to try to lift up its laser rifle in an attempt to try fight on.

A second grenade blast put an end to that.

_-"This cant be...!"-_ was all Bolt got out before his core fell back completely and exploded into rubble. Grenade launcher refolding, Havoc stood upright with its head bet downward, seemingly gazing solemnly at its defeated opponent.

_-"Nice job, fledging. Way to stay alive."-_

Elijah blinked; so surprised at hearing his operators voice that he forgot to be upset at the nickname. _'Guess I'm more worn out than I thought'_ he sighed to himself. The fight wasn't long, but it was a close one. And while he faced tougher opponents, Bolt was certainly no pushover. At least this mission was much more interesting than his previous ones.

_-"And guess what? For taking Bolt out, you get a bounty reward."-_

The Raven blinked again, now remembering the bounty rewards. In order to deal with the rouge Ravens that have been emerging since the rise of the Alliance, the merged corporation had issued bounty hit on the 'wayward' mercenaries, offering hefty rewards that were almost as large (sometimes larger) as the mission themselves. It was an ingenious plan when one thought about it.

Using Ravens against Ravens.

Not that that really mattered to Elijah. Raven had always been in conflict with each other; it was an occupational hazard. It how they were the top tier combatants of the world. Of course, that status was gone now, but some things, such as skill, remained the same. It was probably that one thing that kept him alive all this time. Either that, or just plain dumb luck.

He wouldn't argue with either in any case.

_-"You're mission is complete. Head on in."-_

* * *

_Some time later..._

A white AC soared in over toward the Diorgan Distribution Center. It had long detected the battle that had occurred and had only arrived now to take a closer look at the result. Coming in toward the courtyard area, it gazed over at the damage that was before it, as well as the wrecked remains of Thunderstrike. Not that it mattered much to the Raven within. As talented as Bolt was, natural talent could only get you so far. It was good to have, but something like that needs to be forged and perfected; its abilities harnessed through experience. To just fly off into a battle with it and expecting to win on simple talent alone would only get you killed.

As Bolt seems to have learned the hard way.

"I expected this would be the outcome."

In retrospect though, Bolt had been facing Elijah, the Raven of Havoc and known to be one of the Hands of God -Salvation-. Skill-wise, he wasn't sure. Aside from stories from before, there was no real record of the team's capabilities left after Heavenfall. But he did know the Raven's record and what he saw impressed him. But things were beginning to progress rapidly and he had to keep up with it if his plans were to come to fruition. Turning away from the wreckage, the AC -Foxeye- soared away, with the Raven within muttering to himself

"We must hurry."


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-V-

* * *

He was in a good mood.

It was a rare case for the Raven to be in such a mood, but given the paycheck he had just received, it couldn't be helped. After the abysmal credits he had been getting before, it was finally good to see a decent pay for his work. With it, he could actually afford to upgrade his AC; install it with that new generator he had his eye on to increase Havoc's performance.

It would certainly make for a bit more ease in the next mission.

Speaking of which, he should probably check his mission report. Normally, he wouldn't bother with it, but that last mission had him wondering a bit. What started as mere reconnaissance mission turned into a battle with a Raven, and a vicious one at that. He didn't know if that meant anything or not, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Settling down in his seat, Elijah accessed his recent log data on his computer from his operator.

_-"The original plan was just to conduct reconnaissance, but as it turns out, this led to the capture of the facility. Since the Alliance is bent on destroying Vertex, this goes in their favor."-_

_-"Events are in motion. Stay on your guard."-_

And just like that, his good mood went up in smoke. _'Stay on guard? Are you kidding me?'_ Elijah returned his attention to the second sentence. He knew the Alliance wasn't exactly fond of Vertex, viewing it as a nuisance, but bent on its destruction? That seemed to be a bit more that just a nuisance. If anything, those were fighting words.

Elijah shook his head. Maybe his operator was exaggerating things. He did seem overly concerned with regard to his last mission. But then again, that concern had been justified. And a moment ago, he was thinking along the same lines as well regarding the mission. _Events are in motion…_ That comment alone made him worry; something he didn't do often. So engrossed in his thoughts, Elijah didn't notice the light beep that came up on his computer monitor at first. Blinking, he looked up to see a new mission request. _'So soon?'_ Upon opening it, he was then greeted with a new surprise.

"Evangel?"

As a Raven of the Alliance, Elijah was quite familiar with the Commander of the Alliance's Tactical Unit, at least by name and reputation. From what he had heard though, Evangel was indeed an ace Raven, completing many a mission with his AC, Oracle. So skilled was he that there were whispers that he may be a Dominant, a term used to describe a Raven who was…more than skilled.

It was said that a Dominant was one who has an unusually high aptitude for combat, some who, as the name indicates, dominates the battlefield. And this was not limited to Ravens. It is said that many of history's greatest warriors were Dominants. A Raven Dominant behind the controls of an Armored Core would be an awesome force on the battlefield indeed.

At least, those were the rumors.

There was a bit of trepidation on his part, but nevertheless, Elijah checked the mission request…

_-"This is the Alliance Tactical Unit commander, Evangel. I'd like your help securing a vital transport route on the southern edge of Ruga Canyon. The transport route will be useless to us if it is damaged; please exercise caution when removing those defending it."-_

* * *

A couple of hours later, Havoc was found stationed on one of the two bridges in high over Ruga Canyon. And by high, it meant really, really high. Elijah looked over and off the side of the bridge and down the chasm below. A fall from this height would do a great deal of damage to his AC if he wasn't careful. True, he had done and completed missions like this before, but he made it a fact to never take such a mission for granted. Possible damage notwithstanding, falling would take him out of the combat zone, causing an involuntary abort of a mission. And was something he didn't want (in addition to the falling down)

'_No sweat. Just don't fall.'_

Havoc's head turned slightly, eyeing the bridge support system on the second bridge. According to the mission, he was to eliminate the enemy while making sure not to damage the bridge; that piece in particular. It would have been problematic if 8the enemy was stationed near the supports, but luckily they weren't. His radar blinked, showing his first target coming from the opposite end of the bridge he was on.

A loose term since it was still incomplete

Weapons armed, he tried locking on to the target. But the distance was far too great, even for his grenade launcher; he would have to fly to the other side and meet it directly. That could be a problem since the distance was far enough to put a good drain on his fuel. And he would also be vulnerable to enemy attack while he approached as well.

'_Not much choice'_ he thought as he gunned the boosters and Havoc soared off the edge of the bridge. Waiting for his target to come into lock, Elijah also kept a careful watch on his fuel gauge. It was halfway drained by the time the lock on his target came up; an MT. The MT fired upon him and Havoc veered off to the left while Elijah returned fire. The MT crumbled quickly under the machine gun storm and exploded.

But in veering off, Havoc had burned more of its fuel energy and it was now teetering close to the red zone. With a final thrust, Elijah threw Havoc in the right direction and the AC slid onto the opposite bridge edge. _'That was closer than I wanted'_. Regardless, Havoc pressed on, entering the tunnel within the canyon-side and toward the next set of targets that appeared on his radar.

…that shot at him as soon as exited out on the other end.

Flying though the gunfire, Elijah caught sight of his attackers; three flying/hovering MTs that were stationed between the bridges. Apparently, they had no problems with staying airborne. Fortunately, the bridge Havoc raced across was complete, so he didn't have to worry about flying again. Racing past the last line of gunfire, Havoc swiftly wheeled about; its grenade launcher unfolding as Elijah already locked on to one.

_**KHHSSSSHHH!**_

The first MT practically disappeared in the explosion, and as an added bonus, the blaze shook up the second MT, which was too close to the first. Folding the launcher away, Havoc retraced its path, machine guns unleashing its usual destruction as it ripped through the damaged MT and continued on to the third. The third MT tried to move away, but it was far too slow and it soon joined the previous two in oblivion.

_-"Mission complete."-_

* * *

'_Well, that mission sucked.' _

Returning to his dorm, Elijah plopped himself into his seat once again, wondering just where his day went. It started well enough, with a high pay and a decent mission and it ended with another weak mission. Granted, the whole near-falling-down-the-canyon, but beyond that, the mission was pretty simple.

Too simple…

Also, oddly enough, he hadn't heard his operator's voice until the end to confirm his mission completion. And that had been very brief, even without hearing that dreaded nickname. At the very least, he would have thought to hear from him some extra information on his mission, like who were defending the bridge or why was it needed by Alliance.

'_Or why do I even care?'_

Grimacing, Elijah absent-mindedly clicked on his laptop and was surprised to discover two new messages on it. The first one was from Evangel, but he barely glanced at it. Rather, his attention was on the second message. For the second time, it wasn't from his operator, but from someone new.

"Zinaida."

Like Evangel, Zinaida was a name he had heard of as well. She was an independent warlord and one of the few more successful ones. Not only that but, combat-wise, she was probably one of the best Ravens around. _'Looks like I'm getting popular'_ he thought as he opened the message.

_-"I've been hearing a lot of good things about you. It's time you and I squared off. Death comes to us all; don't let something so trivial dissuade you from accepting my challenge. Don't you think it's preferable to face one of your own rather than run errands like some corporate lackey? I await your decision."-_

Finishing with the reading, the Raven had more than a few conflicting thoughts about the message. As he had thought before, he was getting popular. But from the sound of it, it wasn't exactly in the best way. _'And what's this talk about being a corporate lackey? Seriously?'_ It wasn't like he had much in the way of options. His thoughts then switched as he then realized that this could be the first time he had something akin to the arena battles. And he had to admit, the prospect of facing a Raven one-on-one appealed to him, especially considering that boring last mission he had been on.

"Alright, Zinaida. Let's see what you've got."

* * *

"Are you sure about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"You do know who he is, right?"

"Sure. His team has made quite a name for itself before Heavenfall."

"Not just that. You know his…story, right. He's dangerous; far more dangerous than most of the Ravens here; including you, Jack-O."

"…Perhaps. But our goals have the same path. And his aid will be of benefit for coming time."

"Alright. But don't be surprised if he suddenly turns on you."


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-VI-

* * *

Name - _Zinaida_

AC - _Fascinator_

Profile – _Although new to the Raven fold, Zinaida may be the most skilled of the Ravens that are not affiliated with any group. Not much else is known about her, but as a capable pilot, she bears watching, especially considering that she has been extremely busy with various assignments recently._

* * *

Camp Fortherd

.

'_So I'm back here, huh?'_

And from the looks of things, little, if anything had changed. The place was still demolished from the mission he had undertaken some time ago. Heck, the bullet holes from his weaponry were still lining the few walls of the camp structures. _'Look like this place is about to have another bout of destruction'_ the Raven thought as his hands tapped on the controls of his AC. His anxiousness wasn't too much of a surprise to him. For a long as he could remember, he always enjoyed one-on-one matches with other Ravens, which in turn made him an enthusiastic opponent in the Arena.

* * *

_"Hey, I got a message. I'm being challenged to an arena battle."_

_"Are you going to accept?"_

_"Am I not the hand of Salvation? I'll show him the way to oblivion."_

_"That's right."_

_"You've been hanging around Koemai too much."_

* * *

Of course, this wasn't the Arena and he was a much more experienced (and less enthusiastic) combatant, but the thrill of the challenge was still there. There was nothing like going toe-to-toe with another Raven to test your skills and see where you stood among the flock.

And the hefty amount of credits helped out too.

_-"Here she comes. Show-time, hatchling."-_

Elijah grumbled to himself, but looked up to see a purple and grey AC soar in from above and slam down right in front of him. Fascinator was a lightweight bipedal machine, armed with a machine gun in its right hand and an energy blade on the left, with the back being equipped with a set of rockets and micro-missiles respectively. A single emerald eye beamed at him as the machine gun was lifted in readiness.

_-"This won't take long "-_

Anxiousness made way for focus and combativeness as Elijah ceased tapping the controls, taking a firm hold as he readied himself form battle. But the sounds of helicopter rotors broke his focus and both he was compelled to look over and toward the source of the sounds

_-"Looks like you have incoming."-_

'_Yeah, I can see that'_ was the mental retort as a wave of attack copters descended upon them. For a moment, Elijah believed that this was Zinaida's doing. This wouldn't be the first time someone had set up a trap on him. But Fascinator's head was turned toward the incoming horde as well, a possible indication that the Raven within was surprised by their arrival as well. This was then confirmed when a pilot of one of the copters shouted over the comm.

_-"Zinaida! You're going to pay for killing my comrades!"-_

_-"Why now…?"-_ Zinaida sighed, clearly annoyed with the situation. Turning back to Elijah, she continued _-"It looks like our battle will have to wait another day."-_

With that, Fascinator launched into battle, soaring away from Havoc and letting loose a round of fire on the enemy copters. Havoc was still for a moment. Since they were after Zinaida, this had nothing to do with him; nothing to really to keep him there. …Except, he was annoyed as well that their battle was interrupted (technically, their fight hadn't even started, but that was beside the point). And if that wasn't enough, some of the helicopters started firing on him now.

'_Ah, what the heck…'_

With a mental shrug, Elijah turned Havoc toward his attackers and unleashed a full wave of gunfire, tearing through the first copter and damaging a second one, sending both to the ground in fireballs. Gunfire soon rained down around Havoc, forcing Elijah to back his AC away toward the fort. Strafing beneath the gated overhead, Elijah made ready to fire on the attackers, but just as he cleared the overhead, the helicopters he had targeted were blown out of the sky before he could let out a single shot.

'_Zinaida.'_

The purple AC descended from the sky after having boosted high in order to shoot down her targets. Several more attack copters soared in from behind her as she landed, but Elijah didn't give them the chance to strike at her rear as Havoc unleashed another round of fire, taking down two more. The remaining copters strafed out of the way of Havoc's gunfire, but at this point, Fascinator had manage to turn about enough to lock on the some of the copters and fire back, with Havoc continuing his own assault, following the dodging copters with gunfire.

'_Hm. It's been awhile since I've done tag-team.'_

And true to Raven form, the two ACs quickly decimated the attacking helicopters, despite their swarming numbers. Elijah took a short breath as he reared Havoc upright and was surprised to see Fascinator behind him, covering his back. His mind drifted back to his earlier thought; it had been quite some time since he had teamed up with another Raven. And apparently, muck like everything else in his life, the last time he had was before Heavenfall.

Actually, it was _during_ Heavenfall…

Shutting his eyes tightly for a moment, Elijah forced away the bloodstained memories of that night. And it was at right moment too, as his radar suddenly lit with new targets.

_-"Reinforcements inbound. Looks like you're not done yet, hatchling."-_

Both ACs looked about to see their newest targets appear on the horizon. They were still a distance away, but coming in quickly. Fascinator continued to gaze at the incoming craft and Zinaida's voice came through over the comm.

_-"Let's split up. You should be able to handle things from here on."-_

Boosters flaring, Fascinator made a break away from the fort in an effort to draw away some of the enemy forces. But as she flew, a helicopter suddenly soared out from behind the fort; the enemy helicopter that had led the attack.

_-"Come back here!"-_

The copter fired at Fascinator's back, creating an explosion that knocked the AC off its feet and earned a surprised gasp from the Raven within. Elijah was surprised by that, but quickly realized that her booster must have been hit, and critically at that. It wasn't often that a shot could damage an AC that way, in fact, it was quite rare and hard to pull off if someone was trying. However it happened, the result was critical damage to Fascinator's booster system. Smoke billowed from the back of the AC, but that didn't stop it from whirling about and shooting down the helicopter, its single eye seeming to glare angrily as its weaponry tore the helicopter apart until it exploded.

_-"Total system failure?"-_ Zinaida snarled. -_"I don't believe this!"-_

Elijah felt a twinge of sympathy for the female Raven, but that was cut short when he returned his attention to the approaching copters. One in particular caught his attention; larger that the others. He recognized it as a carrier copter and even more so, he recognized what it was carrying. 'Was' being the operative word as the object dropped away from the copter and slammed heavily down onto the ground.

An AC…

_-"Zinaida! You're going to give me a real good payoff!"-_

The AC was a heavyweight, tank-legged machine, colored in lime green. The ammunition matched the core as well; a bazooka in the right hand, howitzer in the left, small missiles and a grenade launcher on the back alternatively. The machine gazed over at the damaged Fascinator and rolled toward her, weaponry lifting to attack.

Elijah took in the scene immediately. Without her boosters or help, Zinaida would be an easy kill for the newcomer, especially with the added backup of the helicopters flying in. Elijah wasn't part of this conflict; he was only to take on Zinaida in a one-on-one battle. This battle was none of his concern.

And yet…

* * *

_"Okay, what's up? And don't you dare tell me it's nothing."_

_"I want you to take the name of Justice."_

_"What?"_

_"It seems to suit you more than it suits me now."_

* * *

"Justice…"

With that whispered word, Elijah launched Havoc into battle.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

-VII-

* * *

Name - _Shade_

AC - _Stratus_

Profile - _Once employed by the Raven's Ark, he left the organization because of the strict regulations that its members had to abide by. He just recently became an active Raven again, and has been doing quite well overall. Not really aligned with any one group, Shade's primary motivation is acquiring as much money as he possibly can, regardless of the reason._

* * *

Rolling in on it tank-treads, the AC Stratus stalked toward the damaged Fascinator; all armaments posed to bring a swift end to the machine and possibly the Raven within. So it was quite a surprise to see Havoc, the second AC that was supposed to be in conflict with Zinaida, suddenly whirl about and come to her aid.

By attacking him…

Soaring at full speed, Havoc unleashed a round of gunfire on the heavyweight AC. Because of its weight, the machine was unable to avoid much of the gunfire from Havoc. But that mattered little, since that weight came from its armor.

_"Better try harder!"_

Now focused on Havoc, Stratus returned fire, launching a blast from its back-equipped grenade launcher. Due to the distance between them, Havoc was able to dodge the fiery blast, only for Elijah to hear the loud blast of the weapon second time. Jerking hard on the controls, Elijah barely dodged the second shot, which exploded onto the building behind him and leaving a large scorching mark.

'_That was close!'_

Now in closer, Stratus continued his assault, interchanging his fire between his shotgun and bazooka. While the bazooka shells were easier to dodge given its long reloading time, the shots from the shotgun were another matter. Because they scattered about, getting hit by them was unavoidable. At mid-range, they did little damage, but if he get caught by it while up close, it would do significant damage, not to mention freeze his systems a bit for a grenade launcher that can, apparently, fire two shots in rapid succession.

That's wasn't something Havoc would take well, if at all.

Strafing, Havoc returned fire, its machine guns firing fiercely at the tank AC. But it was then that Elijah discovered another nuisance to his opponent. Even though heavily armored, Stratus proved to be surprising agile, strafing to the side and nimbly (a tank could be nimble?) lifting up into the air. Losing track of him, Elijah quickly pulled Havoc back, just in time to evade the grenade blasts that soared down from the sky and almost throwing his machine of its feet.

'_This isn't working.'_

Elijah's face was a scowl as Stratus renewed its assault on him. Havoc was quick enough to evade its fire, but only barely. Already, his AP wasn't looking too good as it was. And he couldn't fight this machine head-on; Stratus had the defense to take most of Havoc's shots and the offense to reduce said AC to scrap.

* * *

_"What are you doing, trying to kill me?"_

_"Elijah. This is a real battle. Fight as though your life depended on it.__Because it does."_

_"This is crazy. What are you doing?"_

_"What are YOU doing? You've been trained better than this. Now fight."_

* * *

He _was_ trained better than this. Sliding backward across the ground, Havoc fired, but only with his right machine gun. The bullets hit true, but again did little damage to Status, who was now advancing after him in pursuit.

_"Your time is up!"_

The missile launchers on the back of Stratus soon reared forward, but Elijah noticed them immediately and after they were fired, Havoc managed to weave around the projectiles, all the while continuing to back away for Stratus and sliding under the metal grating that was amid the camp's building. Stratus continued to pursue, following Havoc under the grating.

Exactly as he wanted…

Speeding out of the other end of the camp, Havoc whirled about and settled down on the ground, unfurling the grenade launcher on its back and launching the option from its core and having it hover overhead. No sooner did Stratus emerge from around the corner did Elijah let loose a full stream of fire from his grenade launcher, his energy EO, and from the left arm machine gun. With Stratus limited in movement due to the metal grating, all of the shots hit the green AC.

But Stratus continued to advance and Elijah saw that the machine was free from the grating, giving it its movement back again. As Stratus began to take to the air, Elijah began to back his machine away. But a shot from Stratus' shotgun hit him and Havoc stalled. _'Damn it, not now!'_ But he saw the grenade launcher of the tank AC unfurled and he knew that he was in serious trouble.

Until a stream of machine gun fire brought Stratus down.

Looking up, Elijah saw a repaired Fascinator descend from the sky, firing on Stratus with its machine gun and micro-missiles. With Stratus grounded for the moment, Elijah rose up and joined her, using both machine guns in lieu with his still active EO. With the damage sustained from Havoc's earlier attack, it didn't take long for the tank AC to finally break down and explode from the combined assault of the two ACs. Seeing this, Elijah almost relaxed, but then remembered why he was out here to begin with; his duel with Zinaida. It hadn't occurred to him to think about the support helicopters that had come to aid Stratus, but it didn't matter since Zinaida had dealt with them earlier. Havoc turned about to face Fascinator, who was gazing at him in the same manner.

"So what happens now?"

There was silence at first, but then a response. _"You saved my life. Why?"_

Now it was his turn to be silent, in thought. Why had he saved her? There had been no reason for him to do so. The conflict that had interrupted that was her business alone and she should have been the one to deal with it. Even when Stratus arrived, he could have bailed and no one would have blamed him. These days, such an action would have only been expected, probably even seen as natural for a Raven. But…

"It wasn't right… No Raven should fall like that."

There was a sharp sucking of air that Elijah overheard and could only guess was a gasp. Not only had she understood what he meant, he had surprised her as well. But after a moment, she replied; her surprise gone (or well concealed).

_"Well, we're even now. Next time, we'll be enemies. I still have a score to settle with you after all."_

Elijah blinked questioningly, but was unable to say anything further to her as the purple AC turned about and took to the sky. Elijah watched as it soon flew out of sight.

-_"Good job, hatchling. Let's call it a day"_-

* * *

Lying in his bed (for once), Elijah stared up at the ceiling of his dorm. Despite the exhausting day, his mind would not him go to sleep just yet as it mulled over the last mission (if it could be called a mission). Although the mission turned out differently than he expected, he was still rewarded with the bounty reward for taking down Shade. His thoughts though, were mainly on his rescue of Zinaida. Even though the reason he told her was still valid and true, he began to think more deeply on it. She was right when she said that they would most likely be enemies next time they met, but even with that in mind, he knew he would have saved her regardless.

That was just the way he was trained…

Of course, those days were done now, and while the nightmare of Heavenfall still plagued him, it was nice to reminisce about the older days, when the Raven's Ark was still in operation. Memories of his time before Heavenfall drifted in; memories of his stoic and silent mentor who helped push and hone his skills to the limit as well as endow him with a sense of conscience and honor. His memories also went to another whom he considered a mentor, who was the polar opposite of the first; brash and a bit crazy, but fun to hang out with (even with the arguing). From him, he saw and learned the value of having a comrade.

…Of having a friend to back you up.

With a light sigh, Elijah forced his eyes to shut. As he thought before, those days were done. Heavenfall changed that. Now he was on his own, not that he hadn't been on his own before, but that was before the Hands of God, when he was starting out as a young, inexperienced Raven with marginal skills. Now he was a fully-fledged and proficiently dangerous Raven. More than that, he was a survivor. But it was thanks to those two that he did survive.

Right to the end…

* * *

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"It looks that way. We'll have to take it back to be sure."

"Do you think it will even function? It is outdated technology. And that's an understatement."

"No argument there. But it was preserved well enough so I might get something off of it."

"This hobby of yours has taken a life of its own, you know? Maybe you should have been an archeologist instead."

*shrug*

* * *

'_This was a good day.'_

Marching toward the exit of the Duerr energy plant, Caspian and his AC _Raging Torrent III_ prepared to call it a mission. It was a simple enough mission; at least that was how it had started out. The job was to shut down the plant by destroying the supply controls. The defense within posed a bit of a problem, particularly the machines with the flamethrowers, but they weren't anything that couldn't be dealt with swiftly enough.

After destroying the controls, he did run into some trouble on the way out, in the form of a Raven, G. Faust and the _Panzer Messiah_. A decent Raven to be fair, but Caspian handled it just as expected of a Raven of his skills and abilities. So now, not only was he going to get his pay from completing the mission, he would even have the bonus of the bounty for taking out Gaust. Yeah, this was a good day. At least it was until he exited the facility and his computer spoke up.

-Powerful energy signature detected. Cannot identify.-

For out of the sky, a large machine suddenly descended and smashed down in front of him. It had the shape and form of a tank AC, but the design was something Caspian had never seen before. It had parts of that shimmered in a blue luminescent glow, in particular, the arms that seemed to be sporting arm blades. That same glow shone in it single eye, which gazed at him with a cold, clear intent to do one thing.

Pulverize…


End file.
